Lesson plan
Online program manager
Online enrollments in higher education have grown substantially, especially after the global shutdown. Convenience and flexibility is not the only explanation for this rapid growth. Universities, facing budget shortfalls, have turned to Online Program Managers, commonly known as OPMs to recruit students and build online programs. OPMs provide bundled products and services to private and public educational institutions in exchange for a revenue sharing arrangement. Universities have come to rely on these services to recruit new students, design, develop, run online programs and more. OPMs are often funded by private equity or venture capital as a for-profit enterprises. A revenue-sharing contract has allowed universities to enter into the online education business and gain market share without the need to build their own platform. Such predatory partnerships incentivise aggressive student recruitment (and revenue collection) while outsourcers core edtech capability in an institution.
Article summary
Online enrollments in higher education have grown substantially, especially after the global shutdown. Convenience and flexibility is not the only explanation for this rapid growth. Universities, facing budget shortfalls, have turned to Online Program Managers, commonly known as OPMs to recruit students and build online programs. OPMs provide bundled products and services to private and public educational institutions in exchange for a revenue sharing arrangement. Universities have come to rely on these services to recruit new students, design, develop, run online programs and more. OPMs are often funded by private equity or venture capital as a for-profit enterprises. A revenue-sharing contract has allowed universities to enter into the online education business and gain market share without the need to build their own platform. Such predatory partnerships incentivise aggressive student recruitment (and revenue collection) while outsourcers core edtech capability in an institution.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.